Kansas Coverage
North Central Reservoirs Duck Migration Forecast
Glen Elder, Kirwin, Webster and Lovewell across the Solomon and Republican valleys. Big water that fills late in December and freezes before the east does.
See today’s live scoreAll of KS
Season dates: Kansas duck season 2026-27, dates and migration timing
Where North Central Reservoirs is
North Central Reservoirs is drawn from 11 counties in Kansas: Cloud, Jewell, Lincoln, Mitchell, Osborne, Ottawa, Phillips, Republic, Rooks, Smith and Washington. Those are the counties its shape on the DuckCast map is built from, so a hunter in any of them reads this region’s score.
When North Central Reservoirs peaks
DuckCast’s season model puts the pintail peak here around late October. This follows the statewide pintail curve. That is a modelled typical curve, not a prediction for any single year. The actual push depends on cold fronts and freeze-up upstream, which is what the daily score tracks. Always confirm season dates with the state wildlife agency, linked below.
What DuckCast watches upstream of North Central Reservoirs
3 upstream stations feed this region's freeze line, nearest first: Alma, NE, about 65 miles northwest, McCook, NE, about 130 miles west and Broken Bow, NE, about 145 miles northwest. When those stations ice over, the score here starts climbing before anything changes in the local sky.
Radar over North Central Reservoirs
Each morning DuckCast reads the night’s NEXRAD data from KUEX, the National Weather Service radar at Hastings, about 50 miles north of the region’s weather point. That puts the radar just outside the region, near enough to see birds lifting off and passing close by. Radar sees every bird in the air, not only ducks, so it confirms or questions the score rather than moving it.
Locations stay generalized
Hunter reports for North Central Reservoirs are always shown at the region level. DuckCast never collects or displays exact coordinates, so filing a report here never burns a spot.
Also covered in Kansas
Nearest first. Distances run between the regions’ weather points.
- Cheyenne Bottoms, about 80 miles south
- Quivira and the Rattlesnake, about 115 miles south
- Northeast Reservoirs and the Kaw, about 115 miles east
- Northwest High Plains, about 125 miles west
- South Central and the Arkansas, about 145 miles south
- Southwest Playas, about 175 miles southwest
- East Central Lakes, about 175 miles southeast
- Southeast Timber, about 210 miles southeast
Across the state line
- Republican Valley, Nebraska, about 65 miles northwest
- Rainwater Basin, Nebraska, about 70 miles northeast
- Central Platte, Nebraska, about 90 miles north
Season dates and regulations change. Always verify with Kansas Wildlife and Parks. DuckCast forecasts conditions, not legal seasons.